Moose, Eagles clean up in Q honours

Halifax Mooseheads forward Nikolaj Ehlers was named the QMJHL’s rookie of the year and top NHL draft prospect on Wednesday. (TED PRITCHARD / Staff)

Nikolaj Ehlers cleaned up at the QMJHL awards banquet in Montreal on Wednesday.

The Halifax Mooseheads winger claimed trophies for the league’s rookie of the year and top NHL prospect, as well a spot on the all-rookie and second all-star teams. The 18-year-old from Denmark finished fourth in QMJHL scoring with 49 goals and 104 points in 63 games and also led the entire CHL with a plus-65 rating. Scouts project Ehlers to go in the top half of this summer’s NHL draft, perhaps as high as the top five.

Teammate Zach Fucale won the Jacques Plante trophy for the goalie with the lowest goals against average and was named the league’s personality of the year and a second-team all-star. Fucale had a 2.26 GAA, .907 save percentage and a 36-9-0-3 record for the Mooseheads. He also represented Canada at the world juniors in Malmo, Sweden.

Mooseheads forward Jonathan Drouin was nominated for the league’s MVP award but that honour went to scoring champion Anthony Mantha of the Val-d’Or Foreurs. Drouin finished third in the scoring race with 108 points in 46 games, while Mantha had 120 points in 57 games. Both were named to the first all-star team, along with former Mooseheads defenceman Randy Gazzola, who now plays for the Foreurs.

MacKenzie Weegar of the Mooseheads and Justin Hache of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles were the two defencemen on the second all-star team and Cape Breton’s Cameron Darcy took one of the forward spots.

Other major award winners were: Eric Veilleux of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, coach of the year; defenceman Charles-David Beaudoin of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, humanitarian and community service award; Steve Ahern of Baie-Comeau, general manager of the year; Val-d’Or’s Guillaume Gelinas, top defenceman; Drummondville forward Frederick Gaudreau, most sportsmanlike and Drakkar centre Jeremy Gregoire, academic player of the year.

Gelinas, Baie-Comeau goalie Philippe Cadorette and Quebec Remparts forward Anthony Duclair were the other first-team all-stars and winger Marcus Power of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies rounded out the second team.

Goalie Callum Booth of the Quebec Remparts, defencemen Jeremy Roy of the Sherbrooke Phoenix and Nicolas Meloche of the Drakkar, and Charlottetown Islanders forwards Daniel Sprong and Alexandre Goulet were the other rookie all-stars.

Gerard Gallant, Jean-Luc Phaneuf, Normand Caisse and Patrice Brisebois were inducted into the league Hall of Fame.